Heel-blank sheet



y 1929- H. LAVINTHAL 1.713.135

HEEL BLANK SHEET Filed March 25, 1927 Tic. l.

f o o 1 A 1 o 5 c/ 4- H man Lavinfhal INVENTOR.

ATTORN EY Patented May 14, 1929.

HYMAN LAVINTHAL, or'rrmn'roa. NEW JERSEY.

HEEL-BLANK SHEET.

Application filed March 25, 1927. Serial No. 178,322.

This invention relates to foot-wear more particularly to heels or the like, generally madeof composition materials.

It has been customary to provide blanks for heels or heel lifts and the like to be adapted to shoes either in the factory or at suitable repair stations in which the heel blanks were molded to the finished form. In attaching the same to a shoe the shaped heel blank was fitted thereto andthe excess material trimmed off. The blanks themselves may be flat but generally they have been made of such. form that the. cross-section thereof is concave at the underside of the heel and convex at the top thereof.-

Such heels were satisfactory in that they could be readily attached to the shoe and they" conformed with the general shape thereof, but they suffered from the'disadvantage of being .relatively high in cost because of the necessity of molding each heel individuallyu It has been proposed to overcome this 'disad vantage by providing a flat sheet of composition material, generally containing rubber, and cutting therefrom at the time of use a suitable piece which was attached to the shoe and trimmed'to shape. This procedure was very wasteful in that' it was necessary to first cut a relatively large piece from the sheet and then to trim off a considerable portion thereof. Furthermore, because of the flat character of the sheet it did not adhere closely to the edges or the surface to which it was attached.

The present invention is intended to obviate the disadvantages of the former methods, it being among the objects thereof to provide a composition materialwhich may be readily and effectively used for repairing shoes, which is economical and which produces heels and the like which conform closely to the surfaces to which they are attached.

In Practicing my invention I provide a sheet of composition material of any suitable type, generallya vulcanized rubber mixture or similar material. On the sheet I provide a series of lines to mark oil or define a plurality of sections which constitute heel blanks. 'These lines, which may be in the form of grooves deeply indenting the surface of the sheet, are formed in two series which cross at approximately right angles. One of the sets of linesor grooves is straight and the other'set has the appearance of a wavy or broken line made up of a series of are shaped grooves, the said grooves constituting a breast and rear portion of adjacent heel blanks.

The heel blanks formed by the crossing of the. two sets of lines or grooves may be flat, but preferably are made in a concavo convex form.

In using the heel blanks of the present invention, a cut is made along the said straight lines thus severing a strip of heel blanks which are closely set together with the breast of one hccl tilting into .the rear portion of the adjacent heel blanks. A cut is made on the'curvcd line removing a single heel blank from the strip and this may be used as desired on the shoe.

In the accompanying drawing constituting a part hereof and in which like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 .is a plan view of a sheet made in accordance withthe present invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along the strips. 1 also provide a series of broken lines I or grooves 3, curved in outline, being roughly parallel and intersecting the straight lines 2 at approximately right angles; The said intersections provide a series of heel blanks t. Fach of said heel blanks is preferably made with its under surface ticoncave and its upper surface ti convex and generally parallel to surface But, if desired, the heel blanks -l may be made flat. with good results. may be curved, or may have a combination of flat and curved surfaces.

The breast 7 of each of the heels of the sheet 1 fits into the rear portion 8 of the next adjacent sheet so that when the several heel blanks are severed there is no waste of material. I may, if desired. mold a depression 9 at a suitable point on each of the heel blanks to provide a guide point for a nail for attachment to the shoe.

It will be noted that I have produced in a single sheet a relatively large number of heel blanks of the lift. type. which are adapted to conform with the shoe with a minimum amount of trimming and have produced the same at approximately the cost of manufac-v I individual blanks and eliminate waste.

produce the more expensive heels of the best type at a cost approximating the cost of a plain sheet ofthe composition material used. The waste of material resultingjrom the use of my invention is very much less than that resulting from the use of a plain sheet because the breast of one heel nests into the rear portion of the adjacent heel with no waste between the two heels and its applicationis as simple as .using individually molded 'heel blanks.

lVith the present invention, three sizes of heels will be all that the shoe repair man has to keep in stock so that he need invest in only three of the sheets described and claimed herein as contrasted with fifteen or twenty sizes of the old molded heels now necessary to fit the variety of sizes and shapes prevalent in shoe styles, most particularly ladies heels.

As compared with the plain sheets previously used, the present invention gives about 20% more heels of the conforming type from the same area of sheeting, whereas this conforming feature was entirely lacking in the prior sheets. The grooves in the present sheets act as knife guides, and speed up the cuttingBof ecause one of the sets of lines is-straight and the said lines are in the same plane, the sheet will lie fiat on a working surface and thus I facilitate the cutting thereof into strips.

The breadth of the heel blanks'allows sufficient material for odd sizes, such as the special Cuban and kidney heels. The breast of the heel blanks gauges the placing thereof on the heel of the shoe for speedy attachment and the scoop of the blank provides a tight edge.

Although I have described my invention setting forth a single embodiment thereof, it is intended that the description be not limitthereof may be made within the scope of my invention.

For example, one or more of the lines or' grooves 2 and 3 instead of being placed at the upper side of the sheet may be formed in the lower side thereof and accomplish the same. purpose. Preferably I form a sheet in which all the heel blanks face in the same direction but obviously some of the strips of heels may be turned in the opposite direction with equally good results. In the preferred form of my invention the lines 2 are straight lines but this is not essential as the heel blanksthereof being defining principles herein set forth, the scope thereof being defined in the claims appended hereto. By the term concavo-convex I intend to include not only those heels which may be composed of smooth curves, but also other heels which may be considered non-planar, that is of such form that when attached to a shoe tley exert pressure tending to provide a tight e ge. y

What I claim is:

a 1. An article of manufacture comprising a vulcanized sheet of composition material having adjacent concavo-convex portions formed thereon constituting a plurality of heel blanks, said portions defining sets of lines, some of said lines being straight.

2. An-article of manufacture comprising avulcanized sheet of composition material having adjacent concave-convex portions formed thereon constituting a plurality of heel blanks and grooves between said portions, said grooves being formed in the side of said sheet having the convex portions. l j

4. An article of manufacture comprising a relatively thin vulcanized sheet of composition material having thereon a plurality of separated concave-convex projecting portions constituting heel blanks [and adapted to be readily severed through said thin sheet.

5. An article of manufacture comprising a vulcanized sheet of composition material having connecting'thin portions and discontinuous thick portions the latter constituting a plurality of heel blanks of eoncavo-convex type, attached to each other by said thin portions. ing but illustrative of the ideas involved and I that various changes in the construction 6. An article of manufacture comprising a vulcanized sheet of composition material having connecting thin portions and discontinuous thick portions, the latter constituting a plurality of heel blanks of concave-convex type, attached-to each other b said thin por tions, the breast of one blank eing reentran't and the rear of an adjacent blank nestin therein. V

7. An article of manufacture comprising a vulcanized sheet-of composition material having' a plurality of heel blanks-united by defining portions of lesser thickness, each of said heel blanks being in substantially finished form having breast and rear ortions, said heel blanks being closely spaced so that the major 'part of the area of said sheet .consists of heel blanks and only a. minor part rtions.

In testimony whereo I have hereunto s'jubscribed my name this 19th day of March,

v HYMAN LAVINTHAL. 

